A Brief Interlude
by FanfictionShadow
Summary: Severus and Lily, before Hogwarts, before the Marauders, before they grew up and their worlds grew apart. Based on a prompt by TAFKAB on AO3.


Lily worried about Severus a lot.

It wasn't anything _big_ , no huge reason that Lily was worried. She had never seen Sev with any kind of bruise or broken bone, and he never complained about his home life - or even really talked about it. Sev never seemed to be starving, or flinch from touch, or do anything that was how abused kids acted in Petunia's older-kid novels. So there was no reason that Lily should be worried.

But she was.

Why? Because Sev was ten minutes late to the park. And he was never late if he could help it.

Lily knew that this wasn't really a big deal - she was late all the time. But Sev knew that they always met there on Sundays, and Sev knew that they always met at ten in the morning, and Sev was always on time and ready to tease her for being late.

 _Maybe Sev's just letting me tease him for once_ , Lily thought. _But he wouldn't be ten minutes late, only one or two, enough to let me tease him…_

Just as Lily was wondering if she should get Petunia to help her look for him - even though Petunia was absorbed in her book, and would definitely not want to help her either way - Sev came running up, his too-large black clothes hanging off him and his black hair messy. He was breathing hard, obviously having run there from his house, which was at the other end of their neighborhood than the park and Lily's house. Lily glared at him.

"Where've you been?" She demanded, her hands on her hips, the top of her fiery red hair barely reaching Severus's forehead. "You're ten minutes late!"

Sev gave her the soft look that he only used for her, breaking through her anger as easily as his hands broke through spider webs. "I was held up," he said, taking Lily's hand and leading her to the swings. Lily huffed but allowed herself to be led, her worry melting away as the two approached their favorite spot.

"Well..." Lily sputtered, trying to stay angry at him. "Next time, don't be!"

Sev smirked at her before pushing her gently onto her favorite swing. "Yes, Minister," he said slightly sarcastically.

Lily twisted in her swing, her eyes bright green, her anger gone. "Minister?" She asked a bit breathlessly - ignoring Severus's sarcasm, as usual. "There's a Minister of Magic? Really?"

Sev sat down on the swing next to her, his onyx eyes holding her own. "Of course," he said matter-of-factly. "We also have our own police that we call Aurors, a whole Ministry of magical workers for our world, our own schools like Hogwarts, even our own hospital." With each word he said, Lily's eyes grew bigger and bigger.

"Really?" She was breathless now. "All of that, just for people with magic?"

Sev nodded. "We have an entire world, Lily, more than just Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. There are magic-only towns all over England, and even more around the world. The magical world is like the Muggle world, but better."

Lily pushed off the swing, landing on her feet. "Come on, Sev!" she yelled, reaching out to grab his swing. "Let's go play that you're an- an Auror and I'm the Minister and I tell you what to do!" She ran off towards a small circle of trees, Sev following behind at a slower pace.

"Don't forget your wand!" Sev called, smiling slightly. It was a smile that only Lily got to see, just like his soft look, and she would do anything to see it on her closest friend's face. She leaned down, picked up a smooth stick, and pointed it at Sev, determined to keep him smiling.

"On guarde!" She said, knowing that Sev would find it funny. Sure enough, Sev responded.

"That's not a spell, you know," he playfully chided, but his slightly growing smile gave away his amusement. Lily counted that as a win in her head, even as she outwardly pouted at Sev.

"So tell me a real one!" she replied, grinning again.

Sev shook his head. "I only know one or two spells, and I only read them," he told Lily.

Lily cocked her head to the side. "But if you've read them, don't you know the words?"

Sev shook his head again. "I may not pronounce them correctly, plus I don't know the wand movement. You move your wand a special way when doing different spells," he explained.

Lily thought for a moment. "Well, have you ever seen your mum or dad doing spells? Maybe you can remember and copy them," she suggested. She regretted it, though, when Sev's smile slipped off his face.

 _Maybe he is having home trouble_ , Lily thought.

"My… my mum doesn't use her magic anymore," Sev said softly, turning slightly away. His eyes became shuttered, no longer softly directed at Lily.

"Why not?" Lily asked quietly, trying to get her friend to open up to her. She noted that he hadn't said anything about his father.

 _Do they not get along?_ She wondered. _I don't think Sev's being abused, but maybe they yell at him a lot._ Lily couldn't imagine her parents yelling at her or Petunia. _Or maybe they just had a row recently_ , she thought, willing it to be true. Willing Sev to look at her, and for his onyx eyes to turn soft again, and for his smile to return.

She blinked as Sev turned away from her, the movement jolting her out of her thoughts. "Wait, Sev, where are you going?" she asked, worried that he was leaving.

Sev stopped moving. "Getting a wand for myself," he said, his voice forcefully cheerful but his body still tense. He leaned down and picked up a second smooth stick, straightening up and taking a deep breath before spinning around and pointing it at Lily.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he cried, a smirk on his face - though Lily could tell it was forced. She grinned back at him anyway, jumping out of the 'path' of the spell.

Their faces fell into shock, though, when a leaf that had been behind Lily's sneakered feet rose into the air, bobbing a bit as it followed the tip of the stick Sev held.

"Wow," Lily whispered, everything before forgotten by the redhead at this display of magic. "Sev, that's amazing."

Sev was also staring at the leaf, his eyes and small frown showing Lily that he was confused. "Er, Lily, it's not supposed to do that."

Lily's head snapped to face Severus. "What?"

"It's not supposed to do that," Sev repeated. "I don't have a wand, you can't do magic without a wand…"

"But- but you just did," Lily said. "And we both have before."

"That was accidental magic," Severus explained, though to Lily he looked a bit unsure. "Not actual spells…"

Lily stared off into space, wondering. She started thinking out loud, "What if people with enough magic can do it without a wand?"

Sev turned to look at her. "Wandless magic? It could be possible." He frowned. "But you'd have to be strong, much stronger than most other wizards and witches…"

"This means that you're stronger than adult wizards," Lily said, her green eyes shining in childish pride. "You're stronger than everyone, Sev!"

Sev looked at her, and Lily was overjoyed to see that his soft look had returned. He wasn't smiling yet, but at least he was open again. That was progress to Lily. She mentally noted what she had said to bring the softness back.

"You know," he said softly, "you're as powerful as adult witches too. You're already stronger than my mum."

"Really?" Lily said softly, touched that Sev thought of her as stronger than his own mum. Lily wasn't sure that she could ever say anyone was stronger than hers.

"Yes," Sev quietly admitted. Lily smiled softly before stepping up to him and hugging him around his waist. Sev's arms instinctively circled around Lily's back loosely, barely holding her, but Lily still snuggled into him.

"Thank you," she whispered into his ear. Lily knew how hard it must have been for Sev to admit that.

Lily and Severus stayed entwined for a few more seconds, arms around each other, Lily's head resting on Sev's shoulder. She remembered the worry she'd had earlier, when Sev was late. She squeezed Sev around the waist before letting go and stepping out of his arms.

Sev's body was thin. She could feel his ribs.

"Want to come over for a snack?" she asked, dropping the stick she had been holding and changing the subject.

Sev gave her a small smile, a flash of the lips, barely there. Lily counted it. "Sure," he said.

Suddenly, they heard a yell of "Lily!" as Petunia came walking towards them from the bench she was sitting on, novel hanging loosely in her hand. Lily and Sev both looked at each other, Lily grinning, before she let out a laugh.

"Right on time," she said, grabbing Sev's hand and swinging it between them. Sev gave her his tiny grin, meant only for her, and Lily's heart skipped even as Petunia marched up to them.

Right then, Lily vowed with all of her heart to do anything and everything to keep Sev safe and happy.

She would keep Sev smiling. She promised.


End file.
